Hail, Blood and Fire
by FollowerofChrist834
Summary: Recovering from the Earthquake is hard enough with losing to objects... but what about losing people? Sequal to Earthquke... 3rd book to BTT
1. Bethany

Hail, Blood, and Fire

By: Shayna Nicole

Talk spread of Jimmy's being in the house and Cindy's mom dieing. In the dark, tinted light people came up from Cindy saying they were sorry about her mom, or they were praying for Jim, or they hoped Jim was ok.  "Hey, Cindy, I'm Bethany." A girl with light brown hair said.

"From math class?"

"That's me. I just wanted to say I'm really sorry about your mom dieing." The burnet said jumping around. Something about her reminded Cindy a lot of Shayna. She was hyper like Shayna was, and seemed to always have a glow around her… even though it seemed fake at school… and apparently it was, seeing as she had been left behind. She was wearing her usual, jeans, and a t-shirt.

"Thanks… when'd you come to Christ?"

"Actually… believe it or not, five seconds after the rapture."

"Dang! I bet that made you feel dumb!"

"Yea… especially since I was at a church softball game. It wasn't really too hard to realize what had happened. How'd you get to know Christ? I heard you and Jimmy weren't exactly close to the Christian way of living."

"Really, were there rumors?"

"Only a few… I mean you guys were the hottest couple in the school. Which was kind of weird because neither of you are like majorly popular."

"What'd they say?" Cindy asked… all the sudden worried about what her reputation had been.

"Just that you did like everything together, and stuff like that."

"Everything?"

"Yea… pretty much."

"But we didn't! Well… up until the night of the rapture at least."

" You're kidding me? You chose the night o the rapture to… take your relationship to the next level?"

"Not like we meant to… we didn't know Christ would come back!"

"So… anyways… how'd you come to Christ?"

"Well… last Friday I had a dream." Cindy started to explain the dream and then told Bethany what had happened from then on. At the end when she reached the part about the earthquake and Jimmy going back inside she felt a really strong feeling to go check on Jimmy; but fear kept her from doing so.

"Wow… that is so incredible!"

"It was! So how many were left at the softball game?"

"Only ten including adults, and out of that ten… four of them were my family members. Now it's just me, my mom, and my older sister; my father kicked us out when he heard that we had given our lives to Christ."

"Why? Didn't he claim to be a Christian before the rapture?"

"Yes… but he decided that even if there IS a God, if he wouldn't save such a 'good Christian family' from the Tribulation; then he doesn't want to know God."

"Man! And I thought it was hard to tell Jimmy." Cindy paused at the mention of Jimmy's name, even allowing the thought that she may never see him again… even to the end of eternity… to cross her mind. The problem was that in letting that thought cross her mind, her brain flooded with different thoughts. _What if he's…not living? That means my child… our child… won't have a father. All he'll be is memories. A memory… that's what my mother is now… all she'll ever be from now on._

"Cindy! You there?" Bethany screamed for the forth time.

"You totally zoned out!"

"Sorry… just… thinking."

"Look at the sky!" Cindy joined everyone else staring at the lack sky in awe. It was no later than one in the afternoon and yet it was pitch black… or at least had been. Now however, yellow and white streaks danced across the black sky as the starts fell to earth.

"It's so beautiful… yet terrifying!" Cindy exclaimed. "I just wish Jimmy was here to share it with." She muttered to herself.

Overhearing Cindy's wish Bethany wished there were something she could do. "He's probably on the other side of the house watching them from the opposite angle. And he's probably wishing he could watch it with you,"

"You really think so?" Cindy said enthusiastically. Hearing Bethany say that gave her a new hope.

"There's a chance."

Slightly disappointed at that answer Cindy mumbled "a chance… and there's a 'chance' that my mom accepted Christ before dieing."

"There is."

"I know… I just want something that I know isn't a chance. Something I can know 100%."

"Well… it's not by chance that you exist… and it's not like it was even chance that made you be left behind."

Cindy smiled at that little reminder and gave Bethany a hug, "Thanks."

"You bet! Tell ya what… after the sun comes back out I'll help you look for Jimmy. I wonder how much longer it will be dark?"

"I dunno… my eyes are starting to adjust though."

"Mine too."

"Cindy, Alexa and I were talking and we were wondering if we could use your house for the church to meet at."

"I guess you could… if it's stable enough."

"Great! After the sun appears Alexa and I are going to our houses to salvage whatever we can.  You coming with?"

"Well… sure!" Cindy agreed quickly. She was too scared to find Jimmy dead and she figured it's better to find out later than now.

"Cool, we can go to your house after that!" Alexa said enthusiastically.

Eyes started to turn towards the heavens as the streaks stopped. The sky cleared in a rolling pattern. "Let's go!" Libby said shielding her eyes from the bright sun. Cindy quickly introduced Bethany to Libby and Alexa and the four girls went on their way.

Libby's house was first; it was one of the only standing houses near Sheen's house. It was split in half at one spot due to the earth creasing beneath it… but it stood strong. Libby reached the door first and Cindy led the way for the other girls because Libby had ran ahead inside straight up to her room.

As with most houses, all of the plates and silverware were broke or thrown on the floor. Furniture was moved out of place and everything was a mess… but still standing. Libby stepped around pieces of broken mirror to get to her photo book. After grabbing her photos she grabbed some clothes, books, and a few other priceless possessions and they all marched over to Alexa's house.

At Alexa's the house was partially knocked to the ground. Libby warned Alexa not to go in… and Bethany, and Cindy stayed outside with Libby While Alexa grabbed a few things, praying for her safety.


	2. The Aftermath

Carefully avoiding any spot in the floor that appeared to have a crack in it Alexa tiptoed over to her room. She grabbed her own Bible, some pictures of her family, her laptop that amazingly enough had not a dint on it, and all of her family's cell phones. "Thanks goodness I come from a rather big family!" she said out loud. Alexa had a mother, and a step-dad. Her mom and her real dad had four children together, and then divorced. As for her step-dad's side… he and his previous wife had two kids, and he and her mother had three.

Alexa still hoped to get a hold… or more to the point not get a hold of her stepsisters. She had already gotten in touch with her two older sisters… and the youngest from the original four children had been in bed at the time of the rapture at Alexa's house. As far as Ben and Kyle... they were both raptured.

She grabbed her mom's, step dad's, Ben's, Kyle's, Krista's, and her own cell phone. Due to having a huge family and each member having a phone they had a really cheap rate so she knew that wouldn't be a problem.    

During the time that the girls outside had been praying and Alexa was gathering stuff inside Cindy felt more and more like she should be looking for Jimmy. About ten minuets after Alexa had gone into the house she came back out.

"To your house Cin?"

"Maybe later Libs. I think I should go check on Jimmy… see if I can find him."

"Ok… we'll help! All you had to do was ask or tell us or something!"

"Really?"

"Yes!" The other three shouted in unison.

"Thanks… you guys survey the surrounding area, I'll check inside." With that Cindy ran up ahead to the house. She stepped over everything until he got to just about where she guessed was the kitchen.

The earth had stopped shaking not long after the tree had fallen. Jimmy held his breath hoping that the earth wouldn't shake just enough to move the tree that had placed a protective shield around him. He had heard what he only assumed, and would later found out was, the whole house crashing underneath him. Then came the sound of something soaring through the sky, and shadows followed. Of course he couldn't see the outside world from inside his little tree dome… but shadows appeared and burst of lights filled the tiny little space he had. For about two hours he sat… or laid… in the tree, then he heard it. It was the sound of an angel… or better yet, the sweet, innocent sound of Cindy's voice. "I'm right here!" he called back to her.

"Where?" Cindy asked… not entirely sure that she really heard his voice, it was possible she had imagined it.

"Under the tree!" Jimmy yelled.

"Jimmy!" Cindy squealed with delight. "You are still alive!" Cindy ran over to where the tree was and tapped rapidly on the tree.

"You seem to be tapping just above me." Jimmy said excitedly. He and Cindy were once again re-united.

Cindy leapt for joy at once again being close to Jimmy, how she longed to hold his hand once more. She tried desperately to roll the tree over, no success at all. "It won't budge… are you completely in the tree?"

Jimmy moved around a bit. "Am now."

Cindy pushed again, still nothing. " I… just… can…" Suddenly there was a medium sized aftershock, just enough to thrust Cindy into the tree enough to roll the tree over, and allow Jimmy to crawl out. Squealing of shock… and a tiny bit of pain in her side, Cindy threw her arms around Jimmy and embraced him in a tight hug. Jimmy hugged her back and after a few kisses, another hug, and a few more kisses, they joined hands and went to look for Alexa, Libby, and Bethany. "Don't ever do that again!" Cindy said starting t cry from happiness.

"What…. Be in an earthquake, possible the worst earthquake ever, and have a tree fall on top of me… I'll try to remember that!"

Cindy laughed just happy to once again hold Jim's hand. "Good." She joked, beaming.

"Then again… seeing you this happy… I may have to try it." Jimmy teased.

Cindy scrunched her nose at the idea. "Don't you dare!" She play slapped Jimmy, and yet never quit smiling. "I'm so glad God spared you!"

"God didn't do anything… the tree did."

"And the tree just happened to have a hole, exactly your size, that fell exactly over you and protected you… just before your whole house collapsed?"

"I suppose." Jim shrugged it off.

"Do you have any idea what the chances are?" Cindy was bewildered. She was sure that Jimmy knew he was going to die when he saw the tree come down, and she couldn't…not matter how hard she tried… imagine how one could say that was by chance.

"About 60,000,000,000 to 1."

"And you can honestly say that you are that one in 60 billion… and it's by chance."

"Could happen…"

"Could… and the Natas COULD die before his due time." _Is there anything that will convince him?_ "Look who I found under a tree!" Cindy called out when she saw Alexa and Libby, along with Bethany, come into view.

"Wow! Talk about an answer to prayer!"

"Just lucky."

"Luck?" Libby repeated in complete disgust. "You were literally saved from death by… what, a couple inches? And yet you say luck saved you?"

"Yea…"

All four girls slapped their foreheads. "How can you say that?"

"Easy…. Luck did it." Jimmy responded smugly.

"Did what?" Libby knew Jimmy was stubborn… but SURELY he couldn't say luck saved his life; that had to be why he just said 'luck did it.'

Getting fairly aggravated at Libby and the girls Jimmy said, "Luck… saved… my… life."

Libby didn't know what to say, and Alexa was the same. Bethany however, was reminded of her dad after hearing that. He had been in the earthquake too. As had her mom and sisters… and the rest of the world. As that thought wandered around her head she remembered that she hadn't seen either her mother or her sister since they had separated when they'd first arrived at the church. "Guys… I'm gonna go look through the crowd in front.. to see if my mom and sister made it out ok." Bethany said running around to he front… and jumping over debris.

"Any of you guys want to help me get that car over there out of the tree… at least he person inside he car down?" Cindy asked remembering the car being thrown into the tree before her eyes.

"I will." Jimmy said. He and Cindy went across the street to Cindy's house and then over a few houses. "There it is!"

A GPO car passed the neighborhood shouting on a bullhorn "Stay out of your homes, wait until the all clear to return to your homes."

"As if that's gonna work!" Cindy scoffed.

"But… that's a GPO car." Jimmy said coldly when he realized that it was a GPO car in the tree.

"You're point being? He has a life too and if he's still alive we are helping him out."

"But… he could be the guy that almost killed Libby… and did kill your mom." Cindy softened at the mention of her mom… and was even more determined to get that guy out of the tree.

"Come on Jimmy… we HAVE to get him out of there!" Jimmy started to protest. "Don't try to stop me… I have to rescue him!"

"But…"

"Jimmy… come on!"

"Ok… I just don't see why you wanna save the guy who killed your mom."

"Because… I just can't let him die. Sides…even on death Jesus said 'forgive them.' And they had whipped him, spit on him… and nailed him to a cross." Cindy said and Jimmy gave in and decided to help.

"Sir, are you there?"

"I… think I'm up a tree."

"You are!" Cindy yelled up to him.

"I'm… afraid of heights."

"Don't worry… we'll get you down!" Cindy said. "Jimmy… get Goddard."

"Mom, Hanna, Mom!" Bethany called out in the mob of people.

"Bethany!" her sister yelled when she heard her name. Hanna had auburn hair that dropped to just above her shoulders. She resembled Bethany in her oval face, and their smile was just about the same. At 23 years of age she had one little three year old, who had been taken in the rapture.

"Hanna! Where's Mom?" Bethany said hugging her sister tightly.

"She's… inside."

"What? Why didn't she come out?"

"She couldn't… the GPO's shot at me… and she jumped in the way… taking the bullet and letting me get safely downstairs. She died instantly."

"She… took the bullet instead? WOW! I guess she went straight to heaven… at least according to you she didn't suffer."


	3. Lost and now Found

"Nope, she was taken to fast… but you do realize someone has to tell dad though, right?"

Shocked with fear rather than grief Alexa nodded her head solemnly.

"Just help me, ok?" Cindy begged Jimmy.

"Fine, what do you want me to do, pray for the tree to sway so that the car comes down?"

"No… but you can go get Goddard."

_Goddard, _Jimmy thought, _I saw him briefly in the lab. I just hope he's not mad at me for forgetting about him. _Jimmy ran back to his house and found his shed half-standing. He opened the door and went down to his lab. "Goddard?" Goddard barked in response… but had been so long since hearing Goddard that Jimmy wasn't sure what he said. "Goddard!" Jimmy screamed when he heard Goddard's bark for the first time in almost four years. The robotic dog was in the exact same condition Jimmy had locked him up in and clanked steadily across the floor, his gears adjusting from not being used.   "Here, boy!" Jimmy said in a lower voice then Goddard was use to, but he could still tell his master loved him. After grabbing a few lug nuts for Goddard, Jimmy explained to Goddard what had happened and what they had to do, in a little over sixty seconds.

Jimmy and Goddard then walked outside and Goddard flew up the tree and grabbed a shaking GPO man. The officer was still shaking five minutes after being pulled from the tree. Immediately, once sat on the ground, Cindy, and Libby, with the help of Jimmy, fed the man, gave him water, and worked on getting the bleeding stopped.

"Thank you so much!" Officer Miller said for the tenth time since being rescued. Cindy had just finished dressing the wound on his forehead. "Say, how'd you find me anyways?"

"We…. Were looking for survivors." Cindy said, scared of saying they had been in the church.

"Well, thank you. I'd just about given up, I'd say you were a Godsend or an angel…but I'm an atheist. However, I can tell you that Natas is lucky to have such devoted citizens."

"Yea, Natas has no idea how devoted we truly are to the cause." Libby added. _Sounds good to the authority, and the truth! I AM devoted to the cause… the cause of Christ. Man am I good!_

"Well, I try to do what I can, being in the police force and all, but what's the point? Know what I mean? To be completely honest, I'm in this business because if for some reason I die, it's not suicide. I mean, what's the point of life?"

"Well, actually I can't agree with you there. I mean, He's been there for me even when I didn't know He existed. He watched out for me, loved me, cared for me. And if that wasn't enough, He sacrificed for me. In short, He deserves my everything."

"Wow, that's a lot of passion. Wish I could be that passionate, but I have interests and a life too, ya' know?"

"But, isn't that the problem with serving humans?" Cindy interjected.  "I mean they never are satisfied."

"Ok, now you've lost me." Officer Miller said.

"How so?" Cindy asked.

"Didn't you just say that you devote our life to Natas Reficul?"

"I said I devote my life to Him." Cindy said plainly.

"What's the difference?"

"I never said I was devoted to Natas, I said I was devoted to Him."

"I thought we were talking about Natas though?"

"The only time I remember mentioning Natas was to say that he has no idea how devoted we are."

"Then whom are we talking about?"

"Really want to know?"

"Yes."

"He is God. He is my Lord and creator. He is my sacrifice. He is my refuge in times of trouble. He is my Father. He is my redeemer. He is my reason for living. He is my King."

"Natas? I don't know if I'd say he's a god."

"You wouldn't?"

"No."

"Good! Neither would I!" Libby declared.

"Yet you devote your life to him AND you called him God?" The officer drank a little out of the room temperature can of soup, totally confused.

"I never said that. I said He's God."

Now completely aggravated the officer threw his spoon down. "Who is he?"

"I told you who He is!" Libby said.

"You told me what he is…I want to know his name."

"He is Jesus Christ."

"Oh, you are just another one of those crazy nuts that think Jesus came back and took all the good people with him. Well, let me tell you. There are still good people left! I happen to be one of them!"

"It has nothing to do with being good or bad. We all fall. Romans 3:23 says 'for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.'"

"Yea… well, I still say it's bogus."

"Fine… you can say that… all I truly know is I was blind and lost and purposeless and now I can see, I have a purpose and I've been found.


	4. The Aftermath

Sorry for the delay…. Computer needed re-programmed A LOT this summer so you have NO clue how many times this has been re-written… but I'm sure it's cause all those times God knew I could do better…. So without further a due…. Chapter Four of Hail, Blood and Fire!

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"You were blind?"

"In a spiritual sense, very much so. I thought that God was a myth. He was a false hope. Now I see that God is very real and gives real hope." Libby explained.

"More soup?" Cindy offered.

"Yes please. So I take it you two were in that church."

"Yes Sir." Libby answered, showing him that he had shot her.

"I shot you? Then… why are you helping me?"

Libby shrugged and simply answered, "because I've hurt others too… and I can't help them ease the pain.

"Killed them?"

"No… but whereas my chest, and your wounds will eventually heal… the words I've said will remain forever. I can apologize… but the words were still said."

That last sentence really touched officer Jack Miller. Having been in the police force for 2 years now he had shot at several criminals, been shot at, and seen several people die horrible deaths; he knew that physical pain was bad. But Libby wasn't talking about physical pain…. Eventually the physical healed itself. However, words never can be erased, and he knew it. The last time he saw his father he had gotten into a fight and said 'I hate you.' He never saw his father after that, because the rapture came that very night. Officer Miller wished so hard that he could go back and un-do that, those words would haunt him until his death… all because his father had pulled the plug on his free rent. "Yea… I know what you mean."

"I don't believe this!" Jimmy shouted at last.

"What's that?" the police officer asked.

"This whole thing! I mean… you killed my kid's only living grandparent, and you almost killed Libby! Yet we are all sitting here, talking as civilized people!"

"You have a point kid… wait, you have a kid?"

Jimmy gestured to Cindy, who didn't even look pregnant, "Will have."

"So… I killed your mom?"

Cindy nodded and looked down to the ground.

"Then why the H… why in the world are you helping me?"

"Because you are human too. And regardless if you believe it or not God loves you." Cindy said.

"Well… I'm sorry about your mom… we were told to make an example of two of the churches… I was just following orders. And I appreciate the help."

"Cindy!" Bethany hollered as she came up to Cindy. "Cindy, meet my older sister, Hanna. Hanna, this is Cindy, Jimmy, Libby, and Alexa." Bethany introduced everyone, including Alexa who was trying to get all the cell phones re-programmed.

"Hey Hanna, Bethany. This is Officer Jack Miller." Cindy introduced the officer.

"Hey, we set your house up for a place of refuge… you want to move him there?"

"Sure." Cindy said. "Jimmy, can Goddard turn into a hospital type of bed?"

"Think so… Goddard, hospital bed please." Goddard changed into a hospital carrier and the kids put Jack on him and wheeled him into Cindy's close-to unharmed house.

"Mr. Miller, we'll be right back, ok?"

"Take your time… I'm not going anywhere."

The kids all headed to the dining room to talk. "We need to see if Sheen and Carl are ok." Jimmy said.

"All in good time. First we really need an adult leader. Dale is good, but has anyone seen him?" Cindy asked.

"Cin… it's great you but into this sh... stuff… but I think Carl and Sheen's lives are a little more important than you having someone to lead you in your newfound 'faith.' Especially since they would be newfound believers too!" Jimmy exclaimed loud enough for Jack to hear in the other room. He couldn't stand the fact that, at least it seemed, Cindy and Libby could care less about their mutual friends' lives.

"I haven't." Libby, Alexa, and Bethany answered in unison to Cindy's question.

"Jimmy, we all care about Sheen and Carl… but no one has seen Sheen since the earthquake, nor do we have reason to worry…and Carl… we don't even know where he was when the earthquake struck!" Libby replied to Jimmy.

"Hanna, do you think you could handle leading us?" Bethany asked, pulling her older sister aside while the rest argued with Jimmy.

"I really don't think I could… you'd be much better at it! I mean… at least you attended church regularly… I snuck off as soon as mom dropped us off at the classrooms and went to her small group."

"Hanna. We are all new to the faith… I would be no better than you, not like I paid attention."

"What if I agreed to it… if you were my assistant?"

"Sounds ok to me."

"Hanna, Bethany, we are heading to the store to get some materials to start re-building the damaged parts of this house, you coming?" Alexa asked. Bethany and Hanna followed the other girls out while Jimmy went to check on Sheen and Carl.

Electricity was out throughout the entire world, but that didn't stop the girls from catching the news bulletins that were still being released by the minute; because two years earlier Cindy had switched her entire house over to solar energy in order to save money. Taking occasional glances at the television monitor the five girls worked endlessly on repairing the house until sometime mid-morning.

Sheen was lost in the mixture of Tribulation Saints outside of the remnant of Jimmy's old house after the earthquake ended. As the crowd dispersed to either go find the remains of their own house or check on loved ones, Sheen wandered over in the direction of his house. His house was found in worse shape than Jimmy's was in. Every wall had been shook to the ground, and even the roof lay completely flat. "Sheen! You survived!" Jackie yelled to her son as she saw him come into view.

Sheen rolled his eyes. _Why does she still act as if I were a pre-schooler that got lost in the grocery store?_ He asked himself… but then ran into his mother's arms and hugged her tightly. He may be eighteen, but he hung around sixteen year olds… and for crying out loud… it was possible that his mom might have died. "How'd you survive? Weren't you in the house?"

"I was, but when I first felt that first shake I immediately went outside… the house collapsed in the final stage. Is Jimmy ok?"

"I don't know… last I knew he was inside his house when the earthquake hit… most people aren't to optimistic about him making it out."

"Let's hope he made it out OK, I mean… I feel as if I am his mother in a way… since he has none. That's what I did for you… since you were a little boy."

"Yea, I know…" Sheen said. He didn't like to be reminded that Jackie was not really his mother. His mother had died when he was barely six months old… so his mom's sister stepped in as a mother. Sheen grew up being told she was his mother until he was sixteen and needed his birth certificate to get his driver's license. After he found out he tried to start calling Jackie by her name, being only his aunt... but it was just too weird and he decided then and there that while she is not his 'real' biological mother… she was his mom, and always would be.

"Don't give me that Sheen… I don't want you to completely forget about her."

"Forget about her? I don't even know her! I mean… I have a photo… but I don't know what type of parent she was. I don't know how she treated Dad, I don't know anything… except that she was Mexican and had brown eyes!" Sheen knew that he shouldn't have said that by the look that Jackie had in her eyes. "I'm sorry… I know she was your sister… but to me she's a complete blood-related stranger."

"I know, and I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner. I know it must have been hard on you." Jackie hugged Sheen tightly and cried into his shoulder at the memory of her sister. Taking care of Sheen had been her way of saying she was sorry. Sheen's real mom had been her twin, and she never treated her as anything different than a copy of herself. Even if it wasn't true, since the were identical, Jackie always commented on Rachel's littlest features, saying they wee ugly, or deformed. She had never learnt to show love towards Rachel until it was to late. So, feeling extremely bad for the way she had treated her 2 minutes younger sister, she devoted her entire life to looking after and rearing Sheen, alongside her late sister's husband… whom she also had a rocky relationship with up until the wreck.

"Sheen!" Jimmy yelled out as he came into view from the opposite way Sheen had approached. "You're alive!"

Sheen heard Jimmy's voice and quickly wiped a single tear from his eye. "Jimmy! I thought that you… didn't make it." Sheen said.

"Didn't think I would… but a tree fell on me and created a protective dome fro me… talk about luck!"

"You're telling me!"

"Have you seen Carl?"

"Yea… he's at a local shelter. They believe that one of those flaming meteors hit him."

"He supposed to be ok?"

"They say chances are slim to none… but when I was there he seemed to be doing pretty well."

"We'll check on him later, for now let's go over to Cindy's house and see if we can catch any news."

"Attention Retroville citizens under the age of twenty. While the earthquake was catastrophic, we as a global society, feel that it is best that we go ahead and continue life as close to humanly possible. Thus, we will star school tomorrow. Every citizen under the age of twenty is required to be at Retroville Jr. High or Retroville High, renamed Reficul Community Higher Education Center. Thank you." A voice said over the town's loudspeaker, the same one that Jimmy had once used to warn the town whenever they were in danger.

"Reficul Community Higher Education?" Jimmy repeated… what was wrong with Retroville High School?"

"I don't know… and what's with the 'higher education?"

"Well, boys, we better get on over to Cindy's and call it a night… especially if you have school in eh morning." Jackie said. Jimmy and Sheen rolled their eyes and followed her to Cindy's house, where they claimed a spot in the 'living room' floor next to Officer Jack Miller and fell asleep.

"Jimmy, Sheen! Wake up! We do have school today!" Cindy and Libby commanded, each dressed and ready to head out. They were wearing jeans and a t-shirt that had a picture of Finding Nemo on it… only backwards so that it looked and symbolized the symbol of he Christian fish… in disguise.

"We're coming…" Jimmy said… not happy about school being back… or the 'higher education' idea.


	5. Life Goes On

**Chapter Five**

The boys got up and dressed within five minutes, while the girls ate cereal and made pop-tarts for them to eat on the way. "Thank you sweetie." Jimmy said, taking the pop tart from Cindy handed him.

"You're welcome. I'm going to go see if Officer Miller needs anything."

"You do that." Jimmy said, still not able to comprehend why on earth they were helping the GPO guy. "I'll just be waiting on Sheen with Libby." Jimmy replied as Cindy left the room. As soon as Sheen's pop tart was warmed up Libby made him play 'catch-me-if-you-can' in order to get it. After he finally got the pop tart from Libby, the kids left, telling Jackie to keep checking on Officer Miller.

When they got to the Higher Education building they were very surprised at all of the changes that had taken place. What was left of the teachers and staff was there, but those who either died or disappeared were replaced with the GPO force. The group of teens was told to turn in their old schedules and report to the sign in table according to their last names.

Cindy and Jimmy hugged each other tightly and set up a meeting place as Libby and Sheen did the same. Alexa, Hanna, and Bethany headed to the back of the string of tables to the 'S' table as the rest all broke up into separate areas. After standing in line behind fifty or so other people who's last name began with 'N' as well it was finally Jimmy's turn. "Name?"

"James Neutron." Jimmy answered handing the tall, stout, man on the other side of the table his old schedule.

The man took the schedule, placed it in a pile of other old schedules and thumbed through a lot of other papers before coming to Jimmy's. "Ok kid, here's the deal. Take a pencil, fill out this form and turn it back into me… then take this schedule and report to your assigned basic instruction room."

Jimmy took the papers and found a spot at the other end of the table to start the 'survey.' **Number of family members in your house before the disappearances,** Jimmy read to himself. _That's easy… five. _**How many people in your house since the disappearances and earthquake? **_I don't know! Do I even have a house? Let's see… assuming we are staying at the shelter at Cindy's house there's Officer Miller, Jackie, Sheen, Cindy, Libby, Alexa, Bethany, and Hanna… that's…. 8._ Jimmy thought rationally, and decided that eight sounded like good enough of an answer to him. **Describe Natas.** _Now what do they want there? I'll just ask… what can it hurt. _"Um… Sir… I have a question about number three."

Without glancing at his copy of the survey the officer answered, "I think it's pretty clear."

"But I…"

"How hard is it to tell what you think of someone?"

"Not hard, I was just wondering what it meant." _Ok then… he's um… nice and a great man who has really pushed the world in a positive direction._ Jimmy thought writing that down.** Are we in the middle of WWIII? **_Well… the news says we are… Natas says no… so… um… no._ Jimmy was very confused over the format of the survey. _Are they looking for correct answers... and if they are what would happen if you answer incorrectly? _The rest of the survey was mainly what classes you were enrolled in before and what you've learned from them. At the very end there were a few spots where you wrote down the name of each person in your household prior to the vanishings that was no longer there and several in depth analysis' of if they died or disappeared, their blood type, personality, and other key factors they thought might have played a role in rather they were left behind or not. After finishing the last question some thirty or so minutes later Jim headed to his assigned 'basic instruction' room.

The room had been re-decorated to be completely Global-Society-oriented. The maps had been replaced with maps that showed the ten separate tracks of land and instead of the 'fundicational' posters there were various signs showing the Top Ten Rules To Peace; most of which focused on the no religion topic. On the blackboard was written the instructor's name. However, instead of regular class where they would call their teacher: Mr. Mrs. or Ms., the teachers were referred to as Officer and then their last name.

Each class, now called 'instruction groups' was either all boys or all girls. The rows of desks were arranged alphabetically, having the first person be whose last name came first in the alphabet, then behind them was the person with the last name in the alphabet, behind them was the person with the second letter in the alphabet, and so on and so forth until everyone was seated. After quickly going around the room introducing everyone, Officer Edtrick passed out copies of what he called the 'Global Society Code.' The packet was at least a hounded pages long, with three or for points per page. Everyone was told to read through the first fifty points by tomorrow, and there would be a test. The freshmen and those that had graduated within the last two years groaned.

"But… why are we here? I graduated last year! I shouldn't have to come back to high school!" A kid on the other side of the room from Jimmy asked.

"You should talk! I'm in my sophomore year of college!" the man sitting next to Jimmy exclaimed.

"This is a temporary educational de-briefing," Officer Edtrick said before the next one had a chance to speak up. "You will come to this class every day for the next two weeks. After you know all of the laws for the new Global Society, and pass a huge test, we will hand you back either your modified old schedule and classes will resume or a card saying you've completed the course and are too old for school."

The boy who had said the last comment raised his hand again. "And the college kids are here because…"

"After this course is complete adults ages 21-41 will take it at the elementary schools. And the remaining part of the population will take it in the middle schools. Now, get started on reading and finish these worksheets to help prepare for the quiz tomorrow." Officer Edtrick said, handing out yet another packet, this one anywhere from 200 to 300 pages.

Cindy's day was not much different. After finishing the survey she reported to Officers Gratson's room. Introductions took a while since most of the girls wanted to talk about their losses with the others. One girl brought up the question 'what caused it?' Gratson quickly informed her that those details were not only not allowed but also not important. Cindy mentioned the earthquake that was so fresh in people's heads, hoping to see if anyone else was on her side. "How did we have a world-wide earthquake? I thought you taught us it was impossible?" Cindy was speaking directly to the instructor. Officer Gratson, known to Cindy as Mrs. Gratson, was Cindy's geology teacher last semester and they had spent a good month on earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains.

"Scientist are trying to prove that rather than one big earthquake, as rumor has it, it was lot of smaller earthquakes, and therefore did not cover the entire earth. But, as much as I love talking… we have to move on." Officer Gratson passed out the packets and explained the whole procedure, telling the kids that they were free to either go home, if they have one, or stay there to read it. Cindy got up, put the backpack on her right shoulder and took the packets before leaving the room. Cindy sat down on a bench outside of the office by the soda machine where she and Jimmy were supposed to meet and opened to the first page of the packet. **1) Absolutely no talk about God, the vanishings, or any supernatural event that may occur in a way that suggest that God is real. **The paragraph or so beneath the law was about ten or so sentences or so and was basically brainwashing whoever read it to believe religion, and a higher power of any kind, did nothing but cause problems. _What are they going to do after teaching the world this junk and then Reficul becomes a god to them?_

Jimmy's class was the next to allow them to leave, followed by Sheen's, Libby's, Alexa's, Hanna's, and Bethany's. Jimmy met Cindy by the pop machines as promised and after exchanging stories they read the packet together waiting for the others. "Law number two; there will be no discrimination on anyone due to color of skin, age, or social class." Jimmy read aloud. Cindy read the paragraph beneath that and closed the packet when they saw the others rounding the corner.

"So… how were your guys' classes?" Libby asked.

"Interesting… can't wait for regular school to get back." Jimmy said.

"I felt like they were brainwashing me!" Alexa said. They kept repeating over and over again the first five rules. Do not talk about anything relating to there being a God; do not discriminate, do not cheat, steal, or kill... however, these crimes will have no severe punishment. I mean… honestly... what's the point in having laws if they aren't punishable."

"Did you read the part where it said any religious activity, unless sponsored by the Global Society, is punishable by death?" Hanna asked.

"Yea… I read it… can't say it'll have any effect though." Libby said shrugging it off. "Ready to head back to the house?"

The teens nodded in agreement and left the 'higher education' premises. After returning home they all ate lunch and Libby fed Officer Miller his soup. The kids finished filling out the packets together and then the Tribulation Saints had a Bible study while Sheen and Jimmy watched the news. Jackie peeked in on the Bible study several times, and then went back to caring for Officer Miller. After the Bible study, and a lengthy coverage of news they had Mac N' Cheese for dinner and fixed up the house a little bit more before heading to bed.

The next day didn't go any differently except they took the first test and came home on time rather than early. Officer Miller was stating to heal enough that he could walk around, and therefore while the kids were away to higher education, he and Jackie would do little things to help with the repairs. Each day was not much different than the one before and each one had it's own little surprise. Officer Gratson had called in sick on the third day and the substitute really liked Cindy right off the bat. After the group finished their meeting Cindy stayed after and talked to her.

Her name was Officer Palmer and she had two children, seven and fifteen, that both had disappeared in the vanishings. She had been a nurse at the local pregnancy center and lived about three doors down from Cindy. Cindy had known her fifteen-year-old son and knew that he was never at any of the parties. She then found out that Officer Palmer was on their side. Shortly after the rapture, she found some of Joshua's old church notes and read through them. She became a believer just before the earthquake.

Cindy was thrilled to have met a fellow adult believer and told Officer Palmer her whole story. "How long has it been since you seen a doctor?"

Cindy shrugged, "couple of weeks."

"Well, come by my house next week and we'll get you all checked up!"

The next week came and Kristy Palmer took Cindy up to the Pregnancy Center as promised. Cindy was ecstatic to find out that the baby was healthy and developing a little quicker than it should have been, but Kristy assured her that the development rate was not important and that the baby was fine.

Kristy took Cindy back home and stayed around for the Tribulation Saints' daily Bible study. Kristy started coming over at least once a day and with her added help the hose was fixed u completely exactly two weeks after the earthquake had hit.

Officer Miller decided to stick around the church/home due to the fear of going back to his home and finding everything he cherished destroyed. He and Jackie spent a lot of time together doing unnecessary things like painting the meeting area, the former living room, white and then using splatter paint to liven it up. For once since the vanishings, life seemed ok.


	6. The Candy Bar

Three months later Sheen, Carl, and Jimmy were in Cindy's backyard. "Sheen, Carl, would you two stop playing around help a little!" Libby had decided that with their 'ever-growing'--currently they had a total of twenty people-- church they needed an underground hideout. Of course, Cindy was now three-months pregnant and couldn't help dig; and Libby… had to prepare for the next Bible-study. So, naturally, the guys ended up being the diggers; and with school being out, they spent most of the daylight hours digging.

"Aww… but Jimmy, we've been digging all day for the last three days!" Carl complained.

"Yea, and you can hardly tell! It just looks like a yard with no grass and a teeny-tiny indent."

"It's not my idea… but the girls found a way out of it and I'm not going to be the only one that is digging this thing!"

"Why don't you take a break Jim?"

"Because… I'll never come back to it."

"Sure you will!" Carl exclaimed," the girls' won't let you forget about it!"

"Yo, Neuron!" Nick swerved to a stop on his Skateboard on the sidewalk and walked over to the backyard. "Whoa, what are you doing?"

"Digging so that the girls can then make me make them a underground hideout,"

"Been missing you at the parties. Man, you don't know what you are missing. I mean… if you liked the parties before the disappearances… you should attend them now!"

Jimmy sighed. Not a day went by when he didn't think about his life before the rapture. For starters his mom was never there to hand him a pop tart as he left for school, and Dani was never there to talk to. "Cindy isn't really a party person anymore."

"She still on that religious kick?"

"Yea… I think she's serious."

"You are one strange guy, I would have dumped her when I heard!"

"It's the truth… I just can't believe it."

"I say you are all messed up, and in some serious need of a drink. Anyways, stopped by to see if you heard about the candy bar."

"What about it?"

"It re-opened an hour ago."

Jimmy threw down his shovel eagerly, "you sure?" Nick explained that he had just gone there and needed to go back to his house to get a few extra natas, and Jimmy quickly ran inside and told everyone the news.

"Nick, you need a band-aid." Carl pointed out; even though he was still convincing himself that the red stuff on Nick's leg wasn't blood.

"I don't do band-aids." Nick said in his cool tone that he had always had, even in his days of sucker sucking.

"Yea, Carl!" Sheen said acting as if that was the dumbest thing anyone had ever said, "band-aids are for kids… except the special edition Ultra-lord ones!" Sheen added showing off several Ultra-lord band-aids that were hiding blisters from the little digging he'd done.

"Dude, drop the Ultra-lord, it wasn't even cool back in fifth grade." Nick flipped his hair as he turned to leave, "Tell Neutron I'll see him at the Candy Bar, I'm going to go get Betty."

"Later Nicky!" Sheen said, disoriented from spinning in circles in the foot-deep hole for the last few minutes. Finally he ran into an edge and fell down, even though the world still felt like it was spinning beneath him. "I'll be needing another band-aid… soon as… I can see straight."

"Call me that again and you'll be sorry!" Nick yelled just before hopping onto his skateboard and heading to Betty's.

"Sheen, let's go!" Libby said, pulling on Sheen's arm in order to stand him up not two minutes later. The world was still spinning and so Sheen walked very disoriented to the candy bar.

At the Candy Bar Cindy, Libby, Carl, Sheen, and Jimmy all shared a booth just as they had done since fifth grade; and Alexa, Hanna, Kristy, and Bethany shared the booth next to them. Ms. Estevez and Jack were at a couples table elsewhere. "What can I get for you all today?" Sam said, no different than he had before the disappearances.

"Atomic Cocoa Blast." Jimmy said; Cindy kicked him. "Please."

"And a Purple Flurp please," Cindy added.

"I'll take a rocky-road ice cream and hot fudge," Carl ordered as Sam took down their orders, breaking the mechanical pencil several times,

"I'll have an Ultra-lord fudge sickle and a non-fat latte bar for my snickerpoodle." Sheen said, sliding an arm around Libby.

Libby slid right back out, "not that one either." She said. She couldn't quite remember when Sheen started trying to find a nickname for her. The only thing she knew was that it was about five years ago when apparently Jimmy had got them involved in some space game show. It was something about win or have your planet blown up, and the only reason she knew that much was Cindy constantly reminded her.

"Man! I will find one you like!" Sheen said, more determined than ever.

"Why don't you just call me my name?" Libby asked.

"Because, I would like to find a special name only I call you."

Libby smirked, "keep on trying then."

"Cindy?" Betty asked as she and Nick entered.

"Yea?"

"Hey, girl! Sorry I never got the cheer squad back together after those disappearances, been a little busy making sure Nick didn't go off the deep end. So I hear you got yourself pregnant?"

"As if you can't tell!" Cindy said.

"Honestly… I couldn't." Betty backed up a few feet and examined Cindy. Being only three months along didn't look too bad, and unless you had seen her in the skin-tight cheerleading outfits, not many people would notice the very light bump in her belly.

"Well… It's due in another six or seven months… so chances are I'll just drop out of school before it starts back up for the next year… if it ever starts up that is."

"Yea… I also heard about that."

"About what?" Cindy asked confused.

"That you were on a religious kick."

Cindy smirked, "call it what you want… but its not a religious kick."

Betty sighed, "good! So it's just rumor. I thought you'd gone all goody-goody two-shoes on us."

"Not completely…I just made a decision."

"A decision about…"

"My life… I mean… I messed it up a lot by…well…" Cindy gestured towards her stomach, "by getting myself pregnant. And quite honestly, I was in shock over Dani and Stacey and them not being there. Not to mention… there's the whole disappearances thing… I just had to know what happened. You probably remember Nick's party that night, the only party Libs ever missed… she was watching the Passion with the kids from the youth group. During the movie, the rapture… I mean disappearances happened and immediately after Libby gave her life to God. And I know it sounds crazy to you now, trust me, the first time Libs told me I totally ignored her. But believe me when I say that there is a God, He loves you, and during the next seven years HE will try to get your attention in so many ways."

Betty blinked several times, not really thinking at all about what exactly Cindy had just said. "You…you…you actually believe that?! I thought you were smarter than that! I can understand there being a god… maybe even more than one… but the God you talk about just doesn't' exist. If he did, you wouldn't be pregnant. If you decide to come to your senses and realize that, we'll talk, however…I just can't allow myself to be brainwashed by your people." Betty said, in her cheerleaderish we-are-too-good-for-you voice that she used with all of the wannabes.

"My people?" Cindy repeated. It was obvious that Betty wanted the conversation, and their friendship to end there; but Cindy just couldn't let her slip by. She really felt sorry for her. If there was a top three partiers list last year she and Betty took spots one and two, and to see the change that God had made in her own life… she couldn't' just let Betty walk away.

"Yes…your people. Your Bible-hugging, perfect, goody-two-shoes, 'my-life-is-not-my-own,' I-have-the-answer people! Besides, if I tried to continue our friendship right now, I'd be forced to turn you in. And although you are a little messed-up, I'm sure it's just a natural reaction to crisis that will blow over and I don't' see a reason to lock you up for that. So, due to our friendship, I'm calling it off so that I'm not forced to turn you over to the authorities until you come to your senses."

"I'll keep praying for you."

"Yea, a lotta good that'll do."

"God cares."

"Maybe a god cares, but it's not your God cause He just doesn't exist. He couldn't. You talk about a loving God who wants no one to die, well in case you haven't noticed, people are dieing by the thousands lately. Besides, after losing your mom in the earthquake I would think you yourself would realize He doesn't exist."

Cindy said a quick prayer, but the only way she felt God telling her to do something was to hold her tongue, so she said nothing, except another quick prayer for Betty.

"Your Purple Flurp, your Atomic Cocoa Blast, your Ultra-lord fudge sickle, your rocky road with hot fudge, and your non-fat latte bar." Sam said, passing out the orders.

"Thanks." Cindy and Libby said, while the boys started eating. The girls took another minute silently thanking the Lord for the food, which they knew one day would not be given freely to them.

"You know," Libby, said after a few bites of her non-fat latte bar, "I've been thinking…."

"Oh, just great!" Sheen commented. "Last time she said that all us men ended up spending all day in the backyard digging… and the next day, and the next day, and the…"

"Ok! Sheen we get the point… but really…" Libby tried to continue, but was interrupted by Jimmy.

"Since when did their little 'I've been thinking that we need an underground hideout' affect you? I've been doing all the work! I highly doubt you have even shoveled for a whole three hours since they told us to!"

"I tried, but I had blisters after just one hour." Sheen complained showing his Ultra-lord band-aids.

"Is that an excuse to quit?" Jimmy said, for the first time bringing his hands out of his jacket sleeves to reveal tons of blisters from shoveling.

"Jim!" Cindy gasped, her mother nature showing through.

"It's nothing, just a few blisters are there."

"But it's untreated! I demand you stay inside with me for the remainder of the week!"

There wasn't much Jimmy could say to that. If he'd learned anything the last three months it was that you do not argue with a pregnant woman, or make one angry either. Besides, a break would be nice. _Not to mention I haven't shown her my sunburn yet. If she knew about that I'd be stuck inside for the rest of the year._ Even as he thought that, he wasn't exactly sure how severe it was, all he knew was it hurt… a lot. Which was no help to his headache he'd had since the day before.

"You know what?" Hanna said turning around to talk to Cindy and Libby. In the last three months Bethany had silently and sneakily started doing less and less and now the whole group of Tribulation Saints, who had yet to think of a catchy name for their group, considered Hanna their leader. "I think that while not all of us should go away, I think we need to join forces with believers across the world,"


	7. Ally

"Well… I don't see why not… so long as Cindy stays…" Jimmy said.

"You kidding!" Sheen exclaimed. "There is no way Libbinator is going to go across the world, risking her life, to where I don't know if I'll ever see her again!"

"Nope." Libby sighed, "not Libbinator either."

"It's not like she's going to have your kid!" Jimmy said.

"It's not like anyone told you to get Cin pregnant!"

"It's not like-" Jimmy started to say.

"Boys! It's not like either of you have a say! At least not till you come to Christ." Hanna said. "And, Jimmy, you're right… at this moment it is seriously in Cindy's and the baby's best interests that she stays here. We all know that unless everyone in the house goes, I should stay. So… I'm planning on sending Bethany and Libby."

"Where would I be going to?" Libby asked.

"I was thinking Europe, it's a little safer. It wouldn't be immediately, but sometime in the near future."

"And who knows, maybe you can come too Sheen!"

"Assuming you decide to come to Christ I don't see why not." Hanna said.

"Why does that matter?"

"Because, if you didn't accept Christ and I sent you then you'd turn up to be a distraction. Not only that but I'd be putting you in danger."

"I can handle that." Sheen said defensively, remembering all the times he had to battle aliens and such; although… Jimmy did most of it.

"But as the leader of our group, if you died I'd feel responsible."

"And you'd feel OK if Libberz died?"

Libby sighed, "Try again. And I think what Hanna means is that if I die then she knows I'll be with my Father in Heaven."

"Oh, I get it! So you just don't ant me to go cause you don't think I'm good enough to make it into Heaven!"

Libby hung her head, "haven't you heard a thing that we've been saying? It's not about you. It's not about if you are or aren't good enough. It's about God. It's about Christ being good enough; good enough to cleanse you of your faults…and…Cindy… what's that on your forehead? Anyways," she turned back to Sheen after shaking her head, "God knew we weren't good enough so he paid the price of Heaven for us, with His life."

"What do you mean?" Cindy said, rubbing her forehead with her hands.

"She's joking with you." Jimmy said slightly agitated. "There's nothing there."

Bethany snickered, "she probably didn't want Cindy to make fun of hers. Hanna! You need to wash your face too!"

"You're one to talk!" Hanna shot back in a sisterly joking-but-not way. All of the girls started rubbing their foreheads having no clue what they were trying to get off, well…minus the fact that the other girls had a plus sign looking thing on their foreheads.

"You guys, quit pulling each others' legs… there is nothing on anyone's forehead!" Jimmy said.

"Except that zit on Cindy's" Carl said jokingly.

"What!?" Cindy asked.

"There's no zit, Cin. Go see for yourself." Jimmy suggested. Cindy slid out of the booth and went to the ladies restroom. Looking in the mirror, se was satisfied with what she saw.

Cindy re-fixed her hair and left the bathroom with a smile. She never had any 'real' self-image problems. Well, there was that once in seventh grade when she had tried to lose a few pounds by not eating; however, that ended within days when she found out that food included Atomic Cocoa Blasts. Having been a cheerleader for the past three years, and on of the top ones at that, she was one of the trend setters and always had the 'cool clothes.' So, if she had any history of self-image problems it was in thinking too much of herself.

Lately, however, when she looked in the mirror she didn't smile because she looked great, was dating the smartest sixteen-year-old, or because she knew she was at the top of the pyramid of popularity; now when she looked in the mirror she saw a wonderful creation of God. She grinned as she walked out of the bathroom. _Well, the others should wash their foreheads… but I have no clue why Libby would tell me… mines as clean as can be._ She slipped back into the booth next to Jimmy and looked across at Libby. "I didn't see anything."

Libby took the last bite out of her non-fat latte bar. "Weird, looks clear as crystal to me," Libby stared at Cindy's forehead a moment longer. "If I didn't now any better I'd say you had taken some glitter and drew a cross on there… although… it's not really glitter looking… actually… looks a lot like a crystal look. It blends pretty well right into your skin."

"Kinda like Hanna's… Libby's is darker, and blends in with her complexion too." Bethany observed, the look on her face was as if a light bulb just went off in her head.

"You girls are nuts! Probably more so than Shayna could ever be! You're delusional! Cindy, you didn't see anything for one reason and one reason only… there is nothing there," Jimmy said shaking his head.

"You don't see it?" Hanna asked.

"No…" Jimmy said as if the girls had lost it.

Bethany turned back around to the rest of her table, "Alexa," she said. Alexa looked up from her pretzel, which she had been nibbling on piece by piece. "Do I have something on my forehead?"

"Yea… it's pretty! How'd you get it?"

"You have one too, well, I'm guessing… I haven't seen mine… but Cindy's and Libby's and Hanna's are the same."

"What about Sheen. Carl, and Jimmy?"

"No… they don't have one…"

Alexa's face lit up, "the mark." She said in complete confidence.

"What?" Bethany asked. She had an idea that the mysterious marking was only on the believers… but she wasn't sure.

"The mark. I've been working on memorizing Revelations and in Revelations 7:3 it talks about a mark, or seal, being put on God's people."

"But others can't see it?"

"I'm guessing not. It doesn't say that in the Bible… but if they could we'd be dead, wouldn't we?"

"I suppose so…"

"Hey!" Cindy said as a girl with burnet hair entered the Candy Bar. She hair was straight and dropped to just above her shoulders. She had her head down towards the ground, but Cindy saw that weird sparkle. _She has something on her forehead too… perhaps…_ "Hey, you!"

_Huh? Is she talking to me? _The burnet pointed to herself, a questioning look appearing on her face.

"Yea, you!" Cindy hollered toward the door.

The burnet walked over to the booth Cindy was in. "Hi." She said, a London accent apparent in her voice.

"You aren't from around here, are you?" _Love the accent though, _Cindy thought.

"Not really… I guess you could say I'm a permanent foreign exchange kid."

"You guess?" Cindy asked questioningly.

"Well, at the time of the rap- I mean disappearances…"

"Rapture? Don't worry, we're on your side." Cindy assured the girl, pointing to where she hoped the Seal of God was.

"I see… and the boys?"

"They're undecided; however they are our friends, and that one's my boyfriend." Cindy said, pointing towards Jimmy, who was talking to Sheen and Libby about current events.

The burnet nodded; seemingly satisfied that she was safe. "My name's Ally."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Cindy, and that's Libby. So why are you a permanent exchange student?"

"At the time of the rapture I was supposed to head back home, to England, in about a week. Of course, after the rapture they canceled all flights… well, you know, unless you happen to be ' his royal highness' Natas Reficul." Cindy laughed at the sarcasticness in his voice. "So… I sought out a different aer-o-plane home; it would have left one month after the rapture. I called my mum when the telephones were restored; she wasn't there. In fact, none of my family answered. I found out from my best friend that my mum committed suicide shortly after she found my two younger brothers missing." Ally, who at the beginning of her story had moved to sit down at the already crowded booth, was now silently crying and had her head down towards the table.

"Wow…" Cindy said not really sure what to say, not only had the girl been a continent away from her parents, but she hadn't seen her mother for at least the last six months… and now she knew, she'd never see her again. "I'm so sorry."

Ally shook her head, obviously she wasn't done, or she just needed to talk. "I don't know if my friend knew the Truth or not… I can't even say for sure that she's dead. However, I haven't heard from her since the day I found out about my mother committing suicide…the day before the worldwide earthquake hit. If I could re-do anything about the what's happened since the rapture I'd tell her about Christ over the phone. It hurts so much that I know I'll never see my mom again… but I can't even imagine eternity without Tammy."

"As far as how I came to Christ, since I'm sure you would like to know, My host-home parents were Christians, and Elizabeth was very involved in her church. So, naturally, when she and I swapped, I agreed to fill in for her at her church; as a result… it's my own fault I was left behind. I'd heard… and I'd even taught a little about the end times. One thing no one, not Elizabeth, not the pastor, not Elizabeth's parents… I suppose God knew… but even though I had agreed to fill in for Elizabeth at her church, I never actually asked God into my heart. Not only that… I never really even acknowledged that He was real."

"Of course, the rapture proved me wrong. Elizabeth's parents, her friends- who I had started calling my friends- and everyone I'd worked with around the church, all disappeared… except this guy, Dale Jay, and a few others who never really liked me. Elizabeth's parents left me the house, which I currently live in; it gets lonely… but it's better than nothing."

"I'd hate to ask," Cindy said, "but… what about your dad?"

"He was on a business trip in New York City on September 11th. We had received a phone call after the first plane hit telling us he was OK, because he'd been running late. He only talked for like two minutes before hanging up. Within the next hour his boss called us saying dad died while trying to get a tourist who was stuck in a wheelchair out of the 2nd building as the 2nd plane hit. He had died immediately." Ally seemed so calm talking about that compared to the loss of her mother, and possibly best friend, that Cindy couldn't help but wonder why; apparently it showed on her face. With a small smile Ally added, "I was only five at the time, so I don't remember him much… but I'll never forget when the woman's life, whom he ended up saving, showed up on our front porch and thanked me, saying something about how Dad had told her that his daughter would be disappointed if he came home and she found out that he could have helped someone but didn't."

"Wow! That's really amazing… I mean.. that you got to meet them and all."

"Yea, it was almost as if Dad had sent them to me, as a last good bye."

"Are you living with anyone right now?"

"No… I've been attending Trib Harvesters downtown. My 'home' isn't far from there, and I was blessed enough that it wasn't too harmed by the earthquake."

"We really need a name for our church!" Hanna, who'd turned around to listen when Ally mentioned the World Trade Centers, exclaimed. "And… for that sake our small group too!" Out of the five original church groups founded immediately following the mass disappearances, their group was the only one still without a name. Not to mention, that since then new home groups were founded… and even the majority of those had a name, including Trib Harvesters.

"So… you run the church at a local residence!" Ally said, laughing. "I think it's funny that even though you don't have an official name you are so widely known."

Hanna laughed, "yea… more like _because_ we still don't have a name after three going on four months!"

"Don't be so sure! You guys, although residing in an attic of a house, are one of the biggest groups around."

"Well… that says a lot about Retroville when our attendance is usually no more than fifty. Hey, why don't you move in with us! I mean, if you wanted to. Jack and Jackie are the only adults staying there…but they've told us all that they aren't, and don't want to be, our parental figures. They just happen to live in the same house and are there as follow believers to guide us when we need it."

"Would I have to switch churches?" Ally said, seriously liking the idea.

Hanna laughed again, "of course not! Not unless you wanted to, we'd be glad to have ya. But, it's not as if we're competing for the most members. That would be dumb. In fact, if you did move in I could drive ya there whenever you all meet."


	8. The Move

Chapter Eight

Ally considered this for a few moments. It would be great to have someone else in the house, especially with the high crime rate, and they did offer to take me to the meetings at Trib Harvesters. "Ok, Sounds fun! I can at least go look around! You sure Jack and Jackie wouldn't mind?"

"Sheen's the only one that is under Jackie's control, and Jack has no family."

"Sides Jackie and me." Sheen interrupted.

"They aren't married."

"They're living together."

"Well…" Cindy said brilliantly, "then we are family too."

"Point taken!" Sheen said. "But… are Libs and me family?"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Only if you two are married."

"Matter of time…" Sheen whispered.

"Anyways," Cindy said, directing the conversation back to Ally, "I was right, soon as we're finished then we will be headed home. Would you like the Oreo on top?"

"If you don't want it, then sure."

"You can have it." Cindy said, handing the Oreo to Ally.

"Thanks!" Ally said, taking the cookie and biting into it. Jimmy and Cindy worked together to finish about a third of their Atomic Cocoa Blast, before Cindy discovered that the baby didn't much care for ice cream.

"Jim, I can't eat anymore."

"Full already?" Jimmy asked, knowing that lately it seemed Cindy never had enough food, now that she was feeding to people.

"No, but the baby don't seem to like the ice cream at all."

"Ok then, we'll throw it away."

"I'd hate to…" Cindy started thinking of the children in China, well… at least the children that used to be there.

"If you don't want it… and I can't a whole one on my own… what do you suggest we do?"

"Ok, I suppose you are right." Cindy concluded, handing the Atomic Cocoa Blast to Jimmy. Jimmy slid out of the booth and threw away the rest of the Atomic Cocoa Blast, and when he returned everyone from both tables were ready to go. So together Ally, Jimmy, Cindy, Sheen, Libby, Carl, Alexa, Hanna, and Bethany all walked back to Cindy's house.

Cindy showed Ally around the house and then the group played a few songs before Kristy drove Ally back to her current house, promising to pick her up at noon the next day.

Ally reached into her pocket to get the key and entered the empty house. She remembered how welcoming I was to walk into the house after a long day at school and to be greeted by the Henishaw's. She never appreciated it until she was forced to take the re-educational classes. Ally sighed and looked around; at least I won't miss the living room. She laid the keys on the coffee table and headed back towards her room.

Ally fell backwards across the bed and reached for her teddy bear, which her mom gave to her when she left England. She hugged it tightly and looked around the room, to Elizabeth's corner.

When they had switched houses they had each designated a three-by-one foot area that represented them while they were in each other's houses. Elizabeth was one year older than Ally and seemed to have everything, if the pictures were to be trusted. Ally still had her braces on, while Elizabeth had gotten hers off two years ago and had a gorgeous smile. Elizabeth had straight, medium length, strawberry-blonde hair. Still, despite her drop-dead-gorgeous looks, she dressed modestly and usually in jeans and a t-shirt… yet still looked awesome!

In Elizabeth's corner was her devotional Bible, several Bible Quiz trophies, pictures of her friends, and state-level awards for Cheerleading and Dance. Ally laid down the teddy bear as she walked over to Elizabeth's corner and ran a finger over the pictures. I can't wait to meet her face to face… and see them again. Elizabeth's gaze switched from Elizabeth to the pictures of her friends. What will I do without all of you?

Ally felt immediately at home when she got to Retroville. School was awkward, but each of the people in Elizabeth's inner-circle of friends were waiting for her at the airport along with Elizabeth's parents. Ally was actually glad that, for the moment, she was not returning to England anytime soon. Too much had changed. Her mother was dead, and siblings said to have been saved in the rapture. As if that wasn't bad… she feared her best friend was dead after the great earthquake. After she finished reflecting on the past Ally began packing up all of her stuff.

As soon as they sent Kristy to take Ally back to her house Cindy insisted that Jimmy dress down into a light t-shirt and boxers and take it easy, and enforced the take it easy when she saw how blistered his arms were. "It's really not that bad." Jimmy insisted over and over again.

"Look at your arm! How can you say 'it's not that bad? I'm calling over Kristy!" Cindy said heading to the phone and leaving no time for Jimmy to protest.

Jimmy sighed and lie on his stomach on the bed. Cindy called over Kristy, who came over promptly within the next five minutes. "That stings!" Jimmy shouted as Kristy rubbed the prescription-strength green ice into Jimmy's back.

"Well, I'd say you got yourself rather burnt."

"I thought I had you put on sun block daily." Cindy said.

"And I did."

"What are you going to do when the sun is three times stronger?"

"Die I suppose." Jimmy said, wincing at the green ice on his back.

"When did you put the sun block on?" Kristy asked.

"I put it on before I went outside."

"And… exactly how long were you outside, on average?"

"Fourteen hours… something like that."

"And how often did you re-apply it?"

"I…uh… didn't?"

"I thought you were a genius!" Cindy exclaimed.

"I forgot!"

"Well, in any case we will have to keep him inside for at least a week." Kristy said as she finished putting on the extra strength green ice and handing Jimmy a new t-shirt that was about two sizes too big for him, along with some sweat-shorts.

That entire week Jimmy had a total of two hours in the fresh air, if you could call it that. Local citizens had cleaned up the debris, but the remains of the earthquake were still highly visible. Buckles in the sidewalk, holes where full grown trees used to stand, and abandoned houses with broken windows were not unusual sights. Daily there were kids, 13-14 year olds, knocking on doors and trying to find a warm place to stay for the night.

Exactly six months and two weeks after the Great Disappearances, Hanna finally found a name for their new, rather large, church, Retroville Neighborhood Refuge. They had regulated services to every other day and the core group met daily, all led by Hanna.


	9. The Meeting

"Libby!" Sheen shouted out to Libby who was putting the finishing touches on the underground hideout. "Do we need any extra Books?" Sheen asked.

"Could always use some, why you ask?"

"The school wants volunteers to go to some of the hardest hit areas and get photos before helping clean up. They want to make some sort of earthquake museum, and they are asking for volunteers to go down and do all this. The idea is to get the students to join together.. so that one can't be influenced to Christ without pressure from the others, as well as with a memorial it serves as a reminder that the world should unite as one. I was thinking some of the lighter-hit areas were probably heavily populated with believers, or at least were at the rapture."

"Sheen, that's probably the smartest thing I've ever heard you say!" Libby said wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Libby!" Cindy yelled from inside the house.

Libby pulled away from Sheen, "pregnant lady calls… be right back."

Sheen sighed as he watched her go inside to care for Cindy, who was on bed rest by the orders of Kristy. There were still about 3 mouths left until the baby was due, but Cindy was starting to have contractions and Kristy said the baby was no where close to being ready to survive on it's own.

"What do you need Cin?"

"Jimmy to come to Christ."

"Cin, you know I want that, as does Sheen, more than anything… but he has to make that decision."

"I know… then seriously… I need the laptop."

"One second. Do you need any food?" Libby said going to the other room to get the laptop.

"No, I'm good. Baby Jeremy is pretty full for once."

"Ok, here you go. Remember, if you need anything just ask! You are only supposed to get up for 20 minutes a day."

"I know. Think you can call Kristy over?"

"Yea, you know she loves being over here." Libby called Kristy over and then went to the attic to talk to Hanna.

"Come on in." Hanna said at the knock on the door. "Libby! You know you don't have to knock!"

"I know… I just felt like doing so. What are we feeding the people tonight?"

"I figure Mac and Cheese. I'd love to give them more but we need someone to run to the store."

"I might be able to do that."

"Thanks Libby! I was just going to ask Bethany to, would you like her to go with you?"

"Yea, that would rock!"

"Cool! Ask her if she wants to go."

"Will do!" Libby left the attic and went to the younger-girls' room to ask Bethany. "Wanna go to the store with me?"

"Sure!" Bethany grabbed a hat and her purse and ran downstairs. Just as she and Libby were about to open the door Jackie and Jack walked in smiling. Libby walked out and after the door was shut turned to Bethany. "Wanna drive?"

"Cool!" Bethany grabbed the keys from Libby and hopped in the driver's seat of the old minivan. "Hanna doesn't really like me driving, she says that we're in enough danger without putting 16 year olds behind the wheel."

"Yea, but, a girl's gotta have her fun, right?"

"Yea! Like Jackie and Jack!" Bethany said excitedly while backing up.

"You noticed there's something there too?"

"Who hasn't? They spend like… every waking moment together!"

Libby laughed. "Well… I haven't heard them say anything about marriage yet… but I think Jackie deserves her own husband. What with taking care of Sheen all these years."

"Honestly!" Bethany said. They talked about different couples in the house all the way to the store, stocked up on everything they could, and then went home.

"Cin?" Jimmy said cautiously, not sure what kind of mood she was in."

"Get over here! When are you ever going to learn that even though I'm a Tribulation Saint I still love you?"

Jimmy smiled. "I know you still love me... but… I just miss the closeness we had."

"Jim, how can you say there was a closeness? If there was then why did we always want more? Why did I end up like this? Yea, I loved you… but I love you even more now!"

"Cin, I was just saying… and please, don't go trying to convert me again. I can hear it in your voice."

Cindy sighed, "I'm sorry. I just… want you to have the peace I have. That and I want assurance that if you die then I'll see you again. That earthquake was too close a call."

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

"By the grace of God! That tree could have easily been solid wood."

"But it wasn't, Cin, Sweetheart, I'm not going to die."

"I just worry about you Jim."

"I know… but stop it. It's not good for our baby."

"Yea…" Cindy's voice faded as she rubbed her belly. "Feel it Jim! He's kicking!"

Jimmy moved his hand where Cindy was pointing and felt a slight kick. "He is! Why did we name him Jeremy again?"

"Because, it means God on High, which is a cool meaning… and I've always wanted a son named Jeremy. Sides, I mean… how cute is that? Cindy, Jimmy, and Jeremy?"

"Ok, sorry I asked. I just find it funny I was never asked."

"And I find it funny that you don't have to go through any of the pain. You that the pain, you pick the name."

"That sounds like something a girl made up."

"It is."

"Figures."

"We're back!" Libby and Bethany shouted as they re-entered the house. "Anyone who is not serving Cindy or is on bed rest- come help carry stuff in!"

"Well, I'm not serving you so… guess that's me."

"Oh, please! If you want out of it so bad… a back massage would be nice."

"As you wish." Jimmy got off of the bed and allowed Cindy to turn to her side, then he began massaging her back.

Cindy sighed, "See, if you were Sheen I'd be able to have a real massage cause he's my brother… and taken by Libs… but I'm not taking my shirt off around you."

"Awww! Why not?"

"That is why not... you want it too bad. If I did it around Sheen he'd just be uncomfortable."

Jimmy sighed and continued giving Cindy a back massage while everyone else carried in groceries and started preparing food for the group of kids that were sure to come by within a few hours.

"Jimmy?" Cindy said as he was finishing her massage.

"Yea?"

"I'm sorry. I know that it was originally you that came up with the idea, but I'm sorry for going along with it at the party."

"Cin, haven't' we gone over this before!"

"Yes, but God was really making me feel like I should say something."

"Ok, but honestly! It's nothing to be sorry over."

"Jimmy, Cindy, are we interrupting anything?" Jackie asked from the hallway, her left hand in Jack's right.

"No, why?"

"I wanted to call a house meeting."

"About?" Cindy asked curiously.

"You'll find out when everyone else does."

"Sorry it took me a while! I was baking cookies for the lost puppies." Kristy said, referring to the wandering teens.

"It's ok! Apparently you got here just in time." Cindy said.

"For?"

Cindy shrugged, "some type of meeting."

Jackie leaned into Jack's ear and whispered, "go get everyone else."

Jack nodded his head and ran off to the younger girls' room to retrieve Alexa, then throughout the various rooms announcing there would be a house-meeting in the room where Cindy stayed.

Slowly Alexa, Bethany, Hanna, Sheen, Libby, Ally, and Carl all made their way into the room wondering what the meeting was about.

Jackie spoke up first. "Thank you for quitting whatever you were doing to be here. I know Jack and I said we were not your parental figures, but there are some things we would like to discuss. The first is the street-rats." Jackie said, being careful not to use any form of degradation in her voice. She didn't mean it in a mean way that was just what everyone called the wandering teens. "We are getting very crowded as it is, not that we don't love housing as many as we can. But we need some sort of a system. And more space. I would like to request that some of us move to the underground shelter as to allow room for more orphaned teens in the house."

"But who should move?" Hanna asked.

"I was thinking the younger girls, since there are so many of them."

"I don't see what would be wrong with that."

"Great! Oh, yes, and one more announcement that I think needs to be made…"

"Rules?" Jimmy sighed.

"No…"

"Well… what is it?" Everyone else asked in unison.


End file.
